Scuba and snorkeling is made even more enjoyable when coupled with the sport of spear fishing. Hunting fish by spear has been used by many ancient tribal civilizations. The hunter is generally out of the water and manually drives his spear into the water towards the target with the objective of driving the spear into the target. This can be done rather easily because there is negligible resistance of air to the motion of a rapidly moving arm and the hunter has a firm foothold on some immovable object such as a rock or an anchored boat. If one attempts to perform the same activity while swimming or floating in the water he will soon discover he can not move the spear fast enough or with enough power or accuracy to impale a fish in its own environment.
To accomplish the objective of storing energy in a streamline mechanism, the spear gun has been invented and has been in use for some time. Trigger mechanism concepts have been adopted for more sophisticated mechanisms in as much as trigger mechanisms have been available for some years now. These trigger mechanisms tend to clog and corrode because of the salt water environment. Also such corrosion may deteriorate the safety feature required of all trigger mechanisms capable of releasing a lethal projectile. The inventor, an underwater sportsman with many years experience, has designed a trigger mechanism based on simplicity and effectiveness. The standard spear gun holds a spear in a groove where said groove cradles and directs the spear shaft. The gun generally uses an elastic material which is mounted on the front of the spear gun and is stretched to engage a groove near the rear of the spear. This stretched elastic component provides potential energy for launching the spear towards its target. The spear is locked on a bar which is mounted in the gun. This bar engages an elongated slot near the end of the shaft of the spear. The spear is released by lifting the end of the spear shaft over the bar by any of several means. The necessary safety locking mechanism is achieved by pinning the lifter to prevent the movement required to lift the shaft from the bar.